Augustine Vannhaim
In every royal family, there is someone in it who probably should not have been placed in power in the first place. In the lineage of Queen Brooke, Queen Augustine of Miranda is undeniably that individual. The Queen of Miranda during the Succession War, she ruled through the duration of the Sorceress War before she was finally stopped. Beyond any doubt, she is one of the most infamous rulers in Fontraile's bloody history. Records show that, perhaps paradoxically, Queen Augustine was, prior to the Sorceress War, an unusually temperate and kind-hearted ruler - one served by her younger sister, Veronica. Her grace, charm and enchantingly beautiful appearance was adored by her people. Unfortunately, the Succession War brought with it many perils, and after the war, Miranda's military was overextended. At some point after the war concluded, Augustine was brought information that the Kingdom of Westerly had plans to rule the continent of Fontraile - and she had the documents to prove it. She presented the Invasion plans to Miranda's allies, Xarenia, De Midian, and Hevaraz, and implored Miranda's neighbors to unite to repel the impending invasion. Unfortunately, the other kingdoms did not believe her tale - seeing the plea instead as a sign of weakness. Hevaraz, long a Mirandian ally, amidst its own post-war troubles, and De Midian both united with Xarenia, and invaded the kingdom. Miranda at this time was powerful, but even it could not withstand assaults by three countries at once. In desperation, Augustine sought the help of a powerful sage - one that could serve as her advisor during these dark times. Guided by the sage, Augustine declared herself sole sovereign of Miranda, successfully repelled the assault on her homeland, and began massive retaliatory attacks aimed at conquering the lands of the kingdoms that had one attacked her own. Augustine proved to have a lust for power far beyond what anyone expected, however - the more she had, the more she desired, and Augustine began a rapid descent into depravity - how much of this was her own inherent psychosis and how much of it was the influence of outside parties is a matter of some debate. Regardless of the truth, the result was obvious: In under 5 years, Augustine had turned from a compassionate ruler to one that watched her own people suffer with a smile on her face. Those that disobeyed or criticized her rule were harshly-punished with demotion, imprisonment or death. When her sister criticized her involvement with the sage, Augustine had her exiled. Later, Leon, one of her most trusted generals, began to question the changes in her and was demoted - and when he returned to her with more encouragement to stop the war he was imprisoned. When the Church of Eatos itself advised her to stop the war, she gave an order execute the entire Church's leadership staff - and would have, were it not for her younger sister. When victory against those rebelling against her rule seemed impossible, Augustine relied on increasingly extreme measures to try and hold onto her authority - one such plan involved using her magical abilities to destroy an entire region that happened to house where the rebel leader - her own sister - had taken residence. This plan was thwarted by canny intervention from Voryn, who tried to talk her down. She aggressively sought magical power and knowledge for herself, and became infamous for sending her troops to scour most of the continent for it. Ultimately, however, she was betrayed and murdered by the sage - who later was revealed to be Haxterra - when she outlived her usefulness. Veronica likewise was slain in the ensuing conflict. Augustine's eldest daughter, Iliuabeth, took office soon after the war ended, and set about trying to make amends for her mother's actions. She made large concessions to the countries Miranda had attacked in order to calm the political situation, and spent considerable time focusing on the rebuilding of the country. The aftermath of this conflict, however, would reverberate for decades, and some aftershocks of it are felt to this very day.